The top 3 pitfalls when hiring senior professionals

1. Forgetting that the recruitment process is a two-way street

Prospective employees, especially those at the senior level, need to feel they are wanted and needed by the hiring organisations. It’s an obvious point but one that is often overlooked.

We advise hiring managers to be as flexible as possible in their diary management and consider how the candidate is viewing the recruitment process. It’s those smaller actions which give the candidate an impression of how easy or difficult you’ll be to work with.

Taking the time to get across why the candidate fits into your business and how they will help drive the strategic agenda is also critical to giving them the impression that you are bought into them as an individual.

The golden rule is thinking about running the process for mutual benefit rather than focusing on making it all about your organisation’s needs.

2. Lack of awareness of the candidates’ real drivers and motivation

The second trap we see organisations fall into is not truly understanding candidate dynamics. You might have asked the right questions, but has the candidate given you their real answer? When the candidate is talking to you, they are, of course, focused on selling themselves and may skip over critical factors to ensure they are considered for the role. Understanding a candidate’s real motivations is a high-level skill – so don’t underestimate this.

Candidates will often open up more honestly to a recruitment consultant as a broker of the relationship, saving both time and money in a failed hire scenario. Finding out the candidate’s deal breakers in regard to the role and their personal situation is critical.

3. A lack of empathy

Which leads to our third pitfall. Don’t just consider the factors around the job and focus on a skills match. Having empathy for the candidate’s personal and family situation is essential and is often overlooked. Finding out what senior candidates really want and what the trade-offs might be can put you in a better position to make the hire.

So maintain a flexible outlook and think about the situation from their perspective. Offering flexibility on days in the office or anticipated face time at meetings can make all the difference to securing top talent.

Chat us today to find out more about the recruitment market for senior professionals.

https://harrisondaviespartners.com/